Most observers would tend to agree the tablet computers (iPad, Android tablet. etc.) are revolutionizing the way people use personal computers. Many people are starting to forgo desktops and even laptops in favor of these easily portable devices. This presents a problem for traditional game vendors, who are used to the power and storage capacity of desktops and laptops, and it presents a tremendous opportunity to those publishers who are nimble enough to take advantage of the capabilities (and navigate around the weaknesses) of the new devices.

Unfortunately the operating systems for tablets have not yet shaken out to the point that long development cycles can proceed with the certainty that by the time you are done a large portion of the tablets in use will run the software. iPads run completely different software from Android devices and neither run programs written for Windows Mobile. We have not yet reached the point in tablets as we have in PCs where one OS (Windows) has such an enormous share of the market that you can safely do everything you want in it.

But the potential for wargamers is enormous. You would be able go into a competitive setting and have a computer game you can play face-to-face the way you play a boardgame -- only with less fuss, less setup time, and an enormous variety of possible scenarios. You would be able to play an e-mail or online game wherever you happen to be.

The question is who will be able to first use these possibilities and profit from them.

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"Any asset that would cost you the war if lost is no longer an asset, but a liability." -- Me

Slitherine is working on an iPad version of Battle Academy and probably some others.

If tablets ever get below $100 they will boom but at the current prices I would rather have a notebook/netbook. IOW I think they are a fad.

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Conflict of Heroes "Most games are like checkers or chess and some have dice and cards involved too. This game plays like checkers but you think like chess and the dice and cards can change everything in real time."

Slitherine is working on an iPad version of Battle Academy and probably some others.

If tablets ever get below $100 they will boom but at the current prices I would rather have a notebook/netbook. IOW I think they are a fad.

My dad said, in 1984, that PC's were a fad...

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"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."- W.T. Sherman

Most observers would tend to agree the tablet computers (iPad, Android tablet. etc.) are revolutionizing the way people use personal computers. Many people are starting to forgo desktops and even laptops in favor of these easily portable devices.

Who? I know several people with tablets (including the Mrs) and may well get one myself at some point, but none have 'forgone' desktops and laptops in their favour. At present there are just too many things a desktop does better or that tablets can't do at all in both liesure and business realms, and I can't see that changing anytime soon. I don't think tablets are a 'fad' by any means and fully expect them to become almost as much a 'must have' in current times as a mobile phone; the potential is huge in some areas. But they will accompany desktops and powerful laptops (the two being virtually indistinguishable in terms of capacity these days), not replace them.

I'm afraid wargames is one area in which I don't see a big future for tablets. Of what use is 'portability' when I want to play a guy 6,000 miles away, viewing the battlefield on as large a monitor as I can afford and my desk will accommodate? Same for FPS games, MMOs or whatever. I just don't see the scenario you suggest at all; if people get together they do so to play miniatures or boardgames, not computer games - that's the whole point. Where are these 'competitive' settings where people would trade in their 15mm armies for tablets; where's the market? And I can PBEM or play online from wherever I am on my netbook already.

I pre-ordered a Kindle Fire within minutes of their announcement. One of my reasons was to be able to view PDF Game manuals in color.

Now, my purpose in posting is to encourage Matrix to consider issuing electronic manuals in native e-book formats like Kindle. I know that there are utilities to convert PDF, but my experience hasn't been all that great when I tried it. I would prefer finding a native e-book format manual for every game.

As to playing games on a tablet? Nah... not interested in small screen games due to my failng close vision. I want that big desktop monitor for my gaming!!! (and a mouse, a keyboard, maybe a joystick, and a good set of Bose speakers etc etc etc).

Actually, my only big reason for considering a tablet (or laptop) is the simple fact that with a solar powered ranch, I can't run a 2 nto 4 amp drain on the batteries all night running my computers. I finally decided I needed a battery powered device for checking the internet during low power times. The Amazon Kindle Fire appealed instantly and the price was definitely right!

ORIGINAL: Hertston I'm afraid wargames is one area in which I don't see a big future for tablets. Of what use is 'portability' when I want to play a guy 6,000 miles away, viewing the battlefield on as large a monitor as I can afford and my desk will accommodate? Same for FPS games, MMOs or whatever. I just don't see the scenario you suggest at all; if people get together they do so to play miniatures or boardgames, not computer games - that's the whole point. Where are these 'competitive' settings where people would trade in their 15mm armies for tablets; where's the market? And I can PBEM or play online from wherever I am on my netbook already.

If you owned a tablet you'd have noticed that a netbook and a tablet are completely different beasts. A netbook is - in essence - a mini-computer, while a tablet is just made for playing boardgames on. All the hot games in the boardgame world are already, or are getting ported to the tablet (Carcassone, Ticket to Ride, Caylus, Ra, Small World, Kingsburg, Dominion, ...) This has attracted the attention of the cardboard wargame companies and the following games/boardgame conversions have been announced for the iPad : Across Five Aprils, Battle of the Bulge, Engage (demo-ed at GenCon 2011), Hornet Leader, Manoeuvre, Peloponnesian War, R.A.F., Soviet Dawn, The Caucasus Campaign, War Patrol, Washington's War and Waterloo.

If the traditional pc wargame companies don't watch out, they will be left in the dust - especially as since from a design pov boardgames are much more streamlined and playable than most of what gets released in pc wargame world. Bought more games for my iPad this year than I bought pc wargames.

As to playing games on a tablet? Nah... not interested in small screen games due to my failng close vision. I want that big desktop monitor for my gaming!!! (and a mouse, a keyboard, maybe a joystick, and a good set of Bose speakers etc etc etc).

Same here. I will only play a wargame on a tablet if they make one with a 19" screen.

mobile phones are a blessing... not having one is just means you miss out.

The beauty of my phone is that I can turn it off or not answer it, which many people indicate they cannot do with theirs.

I can use it to make calls, send text, send Instant messages, video calls, play games, read books, compass, bus/train time table, GPS, calendar, surf the web - hell- it does everything while on the move.

mobile phones are a blessing... not having one is just means you miss out.

The beauty of my phone is that I can turn it off or not answer it, which many people indicate they cannot do with theirs.

I can use it to make calls, send text, send Instant messages, video calls, play games, read books, compass, bus/train time table, GPS, calendar, surf the web - hell- it does everything while on the move.

I have a mobile phone, but it's a prepaid plan "dumb phone" with very few other capabilities besides taking calls and storing phone numbers. A smartphone with a data plan is appealing but prohibitive on my income. Most of my church group has them and uses an app to look up their scriptures.

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"Any asset that would cost you the war if lost is no longer an asset, but a liability." -- Me

ORIGINAL: Joe 98 And should you turn it off or not answer it...............................what is the monthly fee ?

5 Euro

The cell phone itself was free as I "inherited" it from my wife who's more into techno-gadgets than I am.

5 Euro / month to text someone I'm going to be 15 minutes late for a meeting or to phone the wife from the supermarket because item #17 on the list I got is not in stock and with what do I replace it is a steal.

And given the amount of guys I see in the supermarket aisles doing the exact same thing I can almost say it's a lifesaver :)

I just bought a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 off Amazon last night. It runs on Andriod OS. I'm looking forward to it. I've found several wargames for my Android OS smartyphone. They are simple and limited but suprisingly fun.

ORIGINAL: sterckxe] This has attracted the attention of the cardboard wargame companies and the following games/boardgame conversions have been announced for the iPad : Across Five Aprils, Battle of the Bulge, Engage (demo-ed at GenCon 2011), Hornet Leader, Manoeuvre, Peloponnesian War, R.A.F., Soviet Dawn, The Caucasus Campaign, War Patrol, Washington's War and Waterloo.

ORIGINAL: sterckxe And given the amount of guys I see in the supermarket aisles doing the exact same thing I can almost say it's a lifesaver :)

I don't do grocery shopping, my wife does that. She will not allow me to go with her as she knows how annoying I can be in a shopping environment.

After a few shopping trips I was able to hone my act

Haha, one of favorites was to stop at the "femine hygene" section and start asking questions really loudly. "What's this for ?", "How's that supposed to work ?" "These things can fly ? No ? Why do they have wings then ?".